Mar'ie vows to find missing funds<\/p>\n
JAKARTA (JP): Minister of Finance Mar'ie Muhammad vowed
\nyesterday to get to the bottom of a discrepancy in government
\nrecords regarding funds left over from the 1987 general election.<\/p>\n
\"I will send my staff to Bapeka (the Supreme Audit Board) to
\nstudy why the data on the remainder of the 1987 election funds
\nare different,\" he said at the end of a four-day hearing with the
\nBudgetary Commission of the House of Representatives.<\/p>\n
At least Rp 2.6 billion ($1.1 million) of the state funds
\nreserved for the 1987 elections were left over after the
\nelections had been completed, he said.<\/p>\n
The minister said all of the remaining election funds had been
\nreturned to the state and that about Rp 670 million ($301,000) of
\nthe sum had subsequently been used for the 1992 elections.<\/p>\n
Sulaiman Biyahimo of the Golkar faction, however, disputed the
\nminister's data, saying that the elections committee had returned
\nonly Rp 4.9 million of the leftover funds.<\/p>\n
He said his figure came from the reports of Bapeka.<\/p>\n
Sulaiman said that the discrepancy reflected more than a
\nbureaucratic error, but pointed to an improper use of the state
\nfunds.<\/p>\n
Budget<\/p>\n
The three-day hearing was concerned with the 1992\/1993 state
\nbudget, which planned for a surplus of Rp 2.24 billion. Instead,
\nthere was a deficit of about Rp 551.2 billion (US$220.54 million)
\nin 1992\/1993.<\/p>\n
The four factions of the House budgetary commission questioned
\nthe minister about the shortfall but, at the conclusion of the
\nthree-day hearing, the government's motion regarding a revision
\nof the 1992\/1993 budget was unanimously approved without any
\namendments.<\/p>\n
Some legislators said that the deficit had been caused by
\ninconsistency on the government's part in following the budget
\nplan, which is traditionally proposed to the House before the
\nstart of each fiscal year.<\/p>\n
The minister said that the difference between the budget
\nestimate and the budget's realization was the result of time
\nlags.<\/p>\n
\"The discrepancy occurred because the estimate was made before
\nthe end of the fiscal year,\" he said, adding that most of the
\nspending during the remainder of the year had been by the
\nstrategic industries management board, which manages the IPTN
\naircraft company, the Pindad military equipment factory and the
\nPAL ship-building company.(hen)<\/p>",
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